Plasma therapy for COVID-19 treatment, still experimental: WHO

GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the use of plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to treat patients with COVID-19 is still considered as “experimental” therapy and preliminary findings showing that it may work are still “inconclusive”. On Sunday, August 23, emergency authorization of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 patients was approved by Donald Trump, President, United States of America (USA).

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, WHO, said that multiple inflammatory diseases have been treated over the centuries using convalescent plasma therapy with varying levels of success. She said that WHO still considers plasma therapy to be experimental and that there should be continuous evaluation. Since individuals develop different level of antibodies, the treatment is difficult to standardize and the plasma must be obtained from recovered patients individually, Dr Swaminathan added. 

Dr Swaminathan said that the studies have been limited and provided “low-quality evidence” and if countries believe that the advantages are greater than the risks, they can do emergency listing but that is usually done when they are waiting for more definitive evidence.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, senior adviser of Director-General, WHO, said that convalescent plasma therapy can cause a wide range of side effects, from a moderate fever and chills to more severe lung injuries.